ExxonMobil - Houston Campus

So, the reason I am posting this is to share with you all a bit of information I have recently come across. To some it may seem like nothing but for me and my crazy mind, this info really got my attention.

It involves ExxonMobil's new campus they are building and have been building for a couple years now here about 30 minutes from Houston, TX. on 385 acres of land. A friend of mine, we can call him Jim, has been working there for quite some time now and shared with me some photos and info that he has come across while working there. I will share with you this info and the only picture I was able to get from him, without him knowing. He showed me a ton of pictures from inside the campus but refused to GIVE me any for fear of being fired. For some reason, photos are not allowed to be taken from the inside. Jim says that if he were to be caught with them he could be fired AND sued.

Here is the picture I was able to get:



Now, its not much, just the inside of one of the labs or the only lab, not too sure, but its all I could get.

You can find more pics Here and also by searching ExxonMobil Houston Campus on google images. Here are a couple I have:





This is just to give you an idea of how big this place is and what it looks like so far.

Now, when I was talking to Jim, he told me a couple of things that really grabbed my attention about this place. Some you can find in the link I shared above. One being that this future campus is supposed to house up to 10,000 employees. They also will have their own daycare center. The entire campus is on its own Power Grid...

Now that was something that made me wonder.

Jim also said that there are underground tunnels that connect all the buildings. That is freaky in itself.

I don't know if there is anything beyond what is being put out there but for me and my crazy mind, this all just seems a bit much. Billions of dollars are being put into this place. Over a million just for marble flooring in one building.

My questions are:
Why do the employees need to live at this campus? (Which by the way is currently surrounded by a high voltage electric fence)
Why does it need to be on its own power grid??

Is seems as if ExxonMobil, which was founded by a Rockefeller mind you, is building this place to be able to survive and function all on its own, without the help of the outside world. Is that strange only to me?

I don't know. I recommend reading the article have shared and also this one as well.

Once I expressed to Jim my interest in his work cite he seemed to close himself to sharing any more details with me. I couldn't get anything serious out of him afterward.

Let me know your thoughts on this. Thanks for reading!!

a reply to: PageLC14

Two things , Could be something or nothing at all .

The critical thinker in me is curious about what exactly that campus is for .

Standing by to see what info can be brought forth .

Ty OP

I agree, it could Be nothing at all. But I will continue to think the opposite just because I can't stop the conspiracy claws that have dug themselves into my brain.

Thanks for reading!!


a reply to: Kapusta

a reply to: PageLC14

It's Disneyland for nerds.

I work on part of a major hospital complex which is really 2 different health care systems..

We have:

1. Our own power gridplant.
2. Tunnels that connect buildings.
3. One of our buildings has a disaster planning scenario that could house thousands of employees.

Things like that are actually fairly common on campuses of a certain size.

Why are tunnels so odd. Downtown Houston has tunnels connecting most of the larger buildings. People move underground from parking to work and to the places they eat lunch. Saves time.

Oh...well...that changes a lot...thanks for that info. Haha


a reply to: opethPA

Idk. I'm from the boondocks and haven't spent much time at all in any huge city exploring buildings or even doing research on underground tunnels. So the idea of them just freaked me out a little, I guess.


a reply to: roadgravel

Of course, all of that is understandable for a hospital or health care facility.


a reply to: opethPA

a reply to: PageLC14
ink.niche.com...

Tunnels are pretty common, though usually just for running utilities. Especially true if they have an old steam plant scheme. But the link above shows college campuses where the general population can walk the tunnels.

The Tropicana in Las Vegas has a tunnel. I don't know where it goes, but I saw the entrance. one of the building entrances (not tunnel but a normal above ground entrance) has a significant set of steps. (It is an old hotel.) They allow the guests to use a ground floor entrance that is under the stairs. You can tell it is for employees rather than guests. Anyway one time when I used this entrance they had the doors to the tunnel open. You could drive a small car in this tunnel.

These energy companies are targets. They step on lots of toes worldwide. I know Chevron HE in San Ramon is alarmed to the hilt. I know someone who wired buildings there and his description was they had a "war room." I suspect it is more like a White House situation room. Things can go really wrong in a multinational oil company. Besides environmental incidents, your people can be kidnapped, oil fields seized, terrorist threats to pipelines, etc. An electric fence seems a bit extreme, but maybe not given the crazy people out there these days.

Google doesn't like the Googleplex being photographed. They blew a fuse when somebody managed to get a photo of the "barn" where they park the Google Streetview cars. The no photo policy is a bit excessive, but not unheard of.

Being in the construction trades almost 30 years, I can tell you the "no photos allowed" is also pretty common.

Thanks for the info, folks.

This just really had me wondering. Guess it's more common than I realized.

originally posted by: PageLC14
Of course, all of that is understandable for a hospital or health care facility.
a reply to: opethPA

It's not so much health care but really the size of the campus that could lead to these things.

Additionally almost every big company has a no pictures allowed policy at various points, industrial espionage is real and companies want to protect their Intellectual Property.

They just closed down their Fairfax, VA campus and moved most of those employees to Houston. In Fairfax the workers commuted so I am sure it will be the same there. I think they are consolidating several offices. I have had a few neighbors who work for them- they make bank...

This doesn't seem out of the ordinary to me.

That HQ could oversee operations for refineries or platforms, and the control rooms may be backed up there. They need to have uninterruptible power for that.

Google has sleeping pods for their employees. Nothing odd about "housing" employees to me.

Tunnels are efficient, and if it's super hot/cold outside it makes it more comfortable to move around.

Companies like Exxon have trade secrets, so no pictures allowed seems normal IMO.